Selfish
by kkuzzz
Summary: That’s when Alex realized it wasn’t firecrackers, it was gunshots. And they were standing right in the middle of it.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Wizards of Waverly Place or any of its characters.

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The morning sun shone brightly through a small gap in Alex's bedroom curtains and shined directly on the closed lids of the sleeping girl. Groaning, she clenched her eyes shut tighter and threw an arm over her face in hopes of returning to dreamland. Her hopes, however, were dashed when a loud pounding on her door startled her upright. As the pounding continued, Alex flipped back her bed sheets and shuffled to the door. Upon opening it, she was greeted by Justin's smiling face.

"What?!"

"Mom sent me to tell you to get your butt out of bed and get ready for school," he answered proudly.

"Kay, I'm up, mission accomplished," she said before shoving the door shut in Justin's face. "Ugh, stupid morning people."

With a sigh, Alex grabbed her towel and drug her feet to the bathroom. After showering and getting dressed, she sauntered down the stairs to join her family in their kitchen. She was vaguely aware of her dad lecturing her about her, presumably about sleeping late, as she grabbed an apple off the counter and mumbled a quick apology.

"C'mon Alex, I'm meeting Zeke before school and unlike you, I'm not a fan of being late," Justin said, swinging his bag over his shoulder and heading towards the door.

The walk to school wasn't long but Alex insisted they stop at a coffee shop along the way so she could grab something to pep her up a bit. Under extreme protest, Justin waited for her on the sidewalk. When she finally emerged carrying a large steaming cup, he tore right into her.

"Why are you so selfish?" he asked in anger.

"What? I am not selfish," she protested.

"Yes you are. You don't care about anyone but yourself. God, I don't know how you even have friends! How can they stand being around you for more than five minutes at a time?"

"Dude, I just wanted a quick cup of coffee. Why are you freaking out on me!?"

"Never mind. It's not like you'll ever get it through your head anyway," Justin spat before quickening his pace and leaving her behind.

With Justin gone, Alex took to walking even slower letting his words sink in. By the time she sauntered up to the school, the tardy bell for first period was ringing. Shrugging her shoulders, she proceeded into the building and up to her first class. She walked in just as the teacher began explaining the last chapter they were supposed to have read in Homer's The Odyssey.

"Ms. Russo! So glad you could join us today!" her teacher exclaimed with fake enthusiasm. "Would you care to summarize last night's assigned reading for us?"

"Not really," she answered, dropping herself into a seat behind Harper.

"It wasn't really a question. Summary. Now!"

"Don't have one," she said nonchalantly sipping her coffee.

"And why not?" her teacher continued impatiently.

"Didn't read it," Alex answered truthfully.

"Well then you can read in detention after school today."

"Sounds like a blast," she huffed out.

Once the teacher took his attention off of Alex and began talking about The Odyssey again, she turned her gaze to the window. Outside, dark clouds were over-taking the once beautiful blue sky. Her mind wondered as she envisioned the kind of storm that those clouds were bringing over New York. Justin's harsh words from earlier kept replaying in her head and she started wondering if maybe they had any truth to them. She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear the bell ring ending class. Alex was finally pulled from her thoughts when she felt someone's hand grasp her upper arm.

"Alex?" It was Harper. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah Harper, I'm fine. Just a little tired today."

"Well class is over."

"Right," Alex answered, jumping up from her seat.

They walked together to their lockers and Alex stood by while Harper exchanged some of the books from her backpack for a few from her locker.

"Harper, do you think I'm selfish?" she asked suddenly.

"Define selfish."

"Oh c'mon Harper, you know what selfish means. Just answer the question."

"Well, you do tend to only do what want to do. Like there was that time you wouldn't go with me to my Nana's birthday party because you said she smelled like a jelly factory. Oh, and remember when you made me kneel in that mud so you could stand on my back and spy on Gigi. And don't forget that one time when-"

"Okay I get it, I'm selfish. I guess Justin was right, I must be a terrible friend," Alex said quietly.

"Not terrible!" Harper tried to argue.

"But not good!"

"Alex-" Harper started but was interrupted by a loud bang from the end of the hall. "Geeze, who brought firecrackers this time?" she asked to no one in particular.

Before Alex could answer, more bangs erupted from the other end of the hallway and kids began running and screaming all around them. That's when Alex realized it wasn't firecrackers, it was gunshots. And they were standing right in the middle of it.

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Good? Mediocre? Terrible? Shall I continue? Review and let me know what you think.

Also, I'm having trouble with something. I tend to get so excited by the ideas of my overall stories that I don't spend enough time on details. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can work on this issue? Feel free to drop me a message with advice. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

As chaos erupted around them, panic and fear took hold of Alex. She grabbed Harper's hand and tried to pull the girl away from danger but pure fear kept Harper rooted in place. Alex stepped in front of her and put her hands on both sides of Harper's face, bringing the girl's eyes to meet her own.

"Harp, snap out of it. We need to move!" she pleaded.

"Alex?" she asked jolting back to reality. "What's going on?"

"Someone's in the school shooting. We gotta get outta here right now," she grabbed Harper's arm again and this time the brunette allowed herself to be pulled by her friend.

Together they began running through the pushing and screaming crowd. They listened as the shots got closer and closer until the shooter was in their hallway and bullets began impeding themselves in the rows of lockers on either side of them. Their pace quickened and became more urgent as they fought to get out of harm's way. Without warning, Harper tripped over her own feet and fell face first into the solid floor.

"Get up, get up!" Alex yelled desperately, pulling at her friend's arm.

Suddenly, Alex's leg erupted in blinding hot pain as a bullet tore its way through it. Crying out, she pitched forward and clasped both hands around the wounded area.

"Sorry! Sorry! Curse these clumsy feet of mine," Harper said, getting back to her feet. "Alex!" she yelled upon seeing the girl's current state. "Oh God," she said, instantly dropping to her knees beside Alex. For several seconds all Harper could do was stare wide-eyed at the blood that was quickly spreading across Alex's pant leg.

"Harper," Alex managed to ground out, jerking her friend's attention back to the present. "We still need to…to get out of here." It was obvious that the pain was quickly consuming her.

"Right," Harper acknowledged. She quickly cast her eyes to the door that was their original escape route. Her stomach dropped when she saw a masked man holding two handguns standing in front of the door, still shooting wildly into the hallway. "Alex, the door is blacked, where can we go?"

Alex, who had both eyes clamped shut and was breathing in quick short breaths in an effort to control the nearly unbearable pain, gasped out, "janitor's closet. Get in the janitor's closet."

Needing no further instruction, Harper looped her arms under Alex's armpits and hoisted them both to their feet. As they crossed the chaotic hallway to the heavy door of the closet, Alex managed to stay silent save for a quiet moan that forced itself from her lips when Harper shifted her to open the door. Once inside, Harper sat her down on the floor as gently as possible and then turned back to the door, shutting it tightly and pushing the button lock on the handle. She then flipped the light on and turned to look at Alex, who was now rocking her body back and forth.

"Sweety, I gotta look at it," she said quietly pulling Alex's hands away from the wounded area. Blood covered the entire thigh area of Alex's jeans and it continued to spread steadily. "Alex we need to do something before you bleed to death."

Before Alex even thought of answering, her cell phone buzzed noisily in her pocket. The vibrations induced a new wave of pain and she cried out, despite her best efforts to hold it in. Grimacing for her, Harper reached into Alex's pocket and pulled her phone out in one swift movement. Flipping it open, her eyes lit up.

"It's a text from Justin!" she shrieked. "He's in the library! And he wants to know if you're okay! He'll know what to do! I'll just text him ba…" just as she was about to hit the reply button the phone shut off. "Alex your battery died! I guess our only option is for me to go get him so we can help you." Alex tried to protest but Harper put her finger to her lips first. "Shh, hey I know it's dangerous, but if it means saving my best friend's life, I'm willing to risk it." She carefully slid her backpack under Alex's head and stood. "I'll be right back. I promise." And with that, she was gone.

"_Oh my God, Harper's gonna get hurt out there and it's all my fault. I'm even selfish when I don't mean to be."_ Alex thought to herself.

Harper, however, was thinking the complete opposite as she moved silently through the halls towards the library.

"_Keep going Harper. Gotta get to Justin. Alex is counting on you. She basically saved your life, you owe her the same."_

As she rounded the corner leading to the hallway that lead to the library, she gasped at the numerous dead bodies strewn about. She closed her eyes tight for the rest of her journey, using the wall as a guide. After a small amount of stumbling, her hand came into contact with the cool metal of a door handle. Wrenching her eyes open, she scurried into the library. Harper felt her stomach fall into her feet when she realized the library had been abandoned.

"Justin?" she called out in a harsh whisper. After about ten seconds with no response she tried again a little louder. "Justin?"

"Harper!" Justin exclaimed, jumping out from behind the check-out desk, effectively frightening the girl. "Harper, you okay?" he asked pulling her into a hug.

"Yeah I'm fine Justin, but Alex is hurt. She got shot in her leg and she's bleeding really bad and I didn't know what to do so I came to get you because you always know what to do and you gotta come help her now Justin," she rattled out.

"Let's go then. Where is she?" he asked grabbing her arm and leading her towards the door.

"In a janitor's closet near our lockers."

"Okay, c'mon."

Five steps into the hall, Harper's eyes fell upon a boy she recognized from her math class. His body was face down, head turned to the side. Blood completely surrounded his body and the expression left on his face was one of pure terror. Upon seeing this, Harper promptly fell against the wall and emptied the contents of her stomach onto the floor. When she returned to her senses, she became aware of Justin rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"Better now?" he asked as she stood back up straight.

"Yeah, sorry about that," she apologized.

"No need to apologize, I understand. Let's just keep going."

They made their way quickly and quietly through the halls back to the closet, passing by many of their dead classmates on the way. They also took the time to check every door between the library and the closet but every single one of them had been locked. Finally, after what felt like hours, they pushed back into the janitor's closet. Once the door was shut and locket, Justin immediately dropped to his sister's side. Alex's normally bronze skin had turned a sickly pale color and her breathing was ragged. Feeling his presence beside her, she opened her eyes.

"Justin."

"Hey Alex," he said gently. A small gasp emitted from his mouth when he saw the condition of her leg. In the short amount of time while Harper was gone, she had bled enough to soak the entire upper leg of her jeans. "Shit Alex, this is bad."

"Yeah," was her simple answer, defeat clearly shone on her face.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna fix this," he said standing up.

Harper took his place as he began rummaging through the shelves that lined the walls of the small closet. Soon he returned to Alex's side, opposite Harper, with an arm load of supplies.

"Okay Alex, I'm gonna cut your jeans away from the wound to clean it. It's gonna hurt though," he explained.

She nodded in understanding and clasped Harper's hand tightly in her own bloody hand. When she looked ready, Justin began cutting at the material, being as careful as he could not to drag the scissors against her tender flesh. Despite his best tried, Alex periodically jerked in pain. When the wound was completely exposed, he picked up a spray bottle and a towel. Harper's eyes widened at the sight of the bottle and Justin quickly shook his head.

"It's just water. I tasted it myself to be sure," he smiled. His smile faded quickly at the lack of attempt Alex made at cracking a joke.

He sprayed an abundant amount of water on the wound and began gently wiping away at the blood. Alex gritted her teeth and clenched Harper's hand even tighter, but still no sound passed her lips. One and a half blood soaked towels later, Justin finally had enough cleared away to be able to see the bullet hole. The wound wasn't larger, maybe the size of a quarter, but it was still leaking a substantial amount of blood. So Justin took his last clean towel, rolled it up, wrapped it around Alex's leg, and pulled it tight. This time, the pain proved to be way too much as Alex let out a ferocious cry.

Hearing the gut wrenching sobs now coming from Alex continuously practically ripped Justin's heart in two. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and she leaned into him, laying her head in the crook of his neck.

"I'm sorry Alex, I'm sorry. It had to be done," he whispered, tears forming in his eyes.

"I know. It just hurts. God, it hurts," she said through her cries.

After a few minutes of crying, Alex calmed down a bit and her sobbing turned into shaky uneven breaths.

"Here," Justin said, unscrewing the top of the spray bottle and placed it against her lips, "you need to drink some water."

She managed to take a few gulps before breaking out into a coughing fit, spitting water down her shirt. Justin took the bottle from her and stood up to find another towel.

"You alright?" Harper asked when she saw Alex's body give a little shiver.

"Yeah, just a little chilly is all," she answered, letting her heavy head fall to Harper's shoulder.

Harper brought a hand to Alex's cheek and then pulled it back quickly.

"Justin! She's burning up!"

He put his own hand to her skin and yanked it back just as Harper had.

"We need to get her temperature down or she could easily fall into a coma and die. I bet there's some supplies in the nurse's office that could help."

"Okay, you go and I'll stay here with her."

"No, we should all go. She needs new bandages and maybe we can find a door that's not locked.

"Oh right. Good plan. How are we gonna get her there thought?" she asked looking at Alex's half open eyes.

"I'll carry her," he answered.

"Alright, I'll lead the way," she said unlocking the door.

Justin the bent down and lifted Alex up bridal style. She was surprisingly light and that small detail made Justin realize just how much blood his baby sister was losing.

"Okay Harper, the nurse's office is just down the hall and to the left," Justin reminded her.

"Got it," she said pulling the door open.

But as soon as the door was open, a large man pushed his was inside. The force knocked Harper to the floor and caused Justin to take a few stumbling steps backward.

"Well, well. I was wondering when you guys were gonna get outta there."

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Okay, well, here's the second chapter. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far and for putting this story on their Alert lists. You guys are all super boss. Again, tell me what you think. If you have any suggestions or any of that jazz feel free to make them. I take everything you guys say into consideration.

P.S. For those concerned, this is not a Jalex fic in any way, shape or form. The bond between the two is purely a brother/sister bond, not a romantic bond at all. I just felt the need to clear that up for people.


	3. Chapter 3

Justin and Harper stared in shock at the man who now stood before them.

"I just happened to be walking by to make sure all the doors were locked when I heard your ungodly screaming. I figured someone was hurt and that you'd have to come out sooner or later so I just decided to wait for you," he said with a sneer. "Now get up," his tone changed as he produced a gun. They complied and followed him out the door and into the hall. "Put her down, she's got two legs," he commanded Justin, motioning to Alex.

"You shot her! There's no way she can walk!" Justin protested, holding his sister a bit tighter against his chest.

"She will if I say she will!" the man shouted, pushing his gun against Justin's forehead.

"Justin just put me down," Alex whispered in his ear. "It's not worth your life."

Knowing she was right, he sighed and carefully brought her feet down to the ground. She let out a strangled yelp when her weight was put onto her injured leg. To help support her, Justin pulled her arm around his neck and wrapped his own arm around her waist. The man seemed to be satisfied by this because he nodded and motioned for them to walk forward. Within the first ten steps, Alex's breathing had become even more labored as she tried her hardest not to show how much pain she was in. The task soon proved to be more than she could handle and she started whimpering with each terrible step.

"It's okay Alex, you're gonna be okay," Justin whispered soothingly, more for his own ears than hers. "Hey, where are we going man?" he turned to the gun wielding man.

"I'm taking you to class," he answered simply.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Harper asked.

"It means shut the fuck up and keep walking," the man yelled, causing all three teens to jump.

They kept their mouths shut after that and just allowed him to lead them through the halls. Finally, he ordered them to stop outside of a closed classroom door. Keeping his pistol trained on them, he walked to the door and gave three hard knocks. Seconds later, the door flew open revealing another large man.

"What the hell took you so long?!" the new man shouted.

"I found a few more Carter," he answered smiling.

"Ah, way to go Jonathan," Carter answered.

"Thanks," Jonathan replied. He then turned and grabbed a hold of Justin's shoulders, giving him a shove into the classroom

The extra weight of his sister hanging on his shoulder combined with the sudden force of the shove made Justin lose his balance and he stumbled to the ground, bringing Alex down with him. The instant she impacted the ground, Alex started screaming in agony at the top of her lungs. The noise enraged Carter and he lunged at her, intending on shutting her up. But before he could reach Alex, Harper jumped between them and pushed him away.

"Leave her alone! Can't you see she's hurting!?" she yelled at Carter.

Carter responded with a solid backhand to her face, splitting her lip and sending her sprawling to the ground next to the writhing Alex.

"Know your damn place little girl. This is definitely not the time to play hero. Now, you three get over there next to the rest of them," he said motioning at the back of the room.

For the first time they noticed the six other kids huddled together in the back of the classroom. Once again, Justin got back to his feet and carefully pulled Alex up with him, supporting all of her weight with his arms. Harper followed closely behind them as they went to join the rest of their classmates-turned-hostages. With Harper's help, Justin sat Alex on the floor with her back propped up against the wall. He then knelt down next to her and placed the back of his hand against her cheek. He didn't think it was possible but Alex's temperature seemed to have risen even higher. She had broken out into a cold sweat and was shivering uncontrollably. Sighing, he sat back on his heels and looked at the almost completely blood soaked towel wrapped around his sister's leg.

"_I gotta do something before she dies!"_ he thought to himself.

He scooted on his knees over to where Harper was talking to the other teens.

"Is everyone over here okay" he half whispered.

"They all seem to be fine," Harper whispered back, "they're just scared." Then she turned so she was totally facing Justin and whispered even quieter to him. "I wasn't going to say anything but I don't get it Justin, why haven't you used magic yet?" she asked desperately.

"Believe me I would but magic's down all week. It's like a yearly spell maintenance or something like that. What's been going on in here this whole time?" he asked turning back towards the other students.

"Well, Police and SWAT are both outside the building and these guys in here have been talking to a negotiator over the phone."

"Do we know why they're doing this and what they want?" Harper asked.

"There's another guy in the school somewhere and apparently his brother used to be a student here. I guess his brother got bullied like every day here and couldn't take it anymore. So he committed suicide last week and the guy holds our school responsible," one of the boys explained. "So far, they're only demands have been for a jet and a million dollars."

"Hey I'm sorry about your sister man," another boy interjected quickly, eyes on the injured girl.

"Thanks, I really gotta get her out of here," Justin said turning to look at her.

Just then the door swung open and the third man walked in. He was greeted by the other two with huge smiles.

"Mikey! Where you been man? We missed you!"

"Yeah we did. Look, Jonathan found three more. One of them got shot. She's suffering just like Cal did," Carter said happily.

Mikey just glanced over and nodded his head in acknowledgement.

Justin watched him for a few seconds before he turned his full attention back to Alex. Her eyes were closed, obviously trying to deal with the blinding pain, and her body continued to be wracked with shivers.

"Hey," h said gently, causing her eyes to open slowly. "You have to stay with me Alex. Gotta keep your eyes open okay?" he pleaded.

"Justin," her voice was scratchy and hoarse from her screaming, "it just hurts too much. I can't…I know I'm not gonna make it. I can feel it. I can feel the life leaving my body. My leg is on fire while the rest of my body is numb and freezing." As she spoke, tears fell from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Without saying a single word, Justin brushed the tears away with his thumb. "I'm sorry," she said through her tears.

"For crying? Alex don't-"

"No, Justin, you were right, I am selfish. I am so lucky to have people like you and Harper in my life and I am so sorry for all the mean things I've done to you."

"Alex I shouldn't have said that stuff this morning. I was just frustrated and I said things I didn't mean," he said, tears of his own forming in his eyes.

"Somewhere inside you did mean it," she paused as a sudden strong wave of pain washed over her. "I just…I just don't wanna die with you mad at me. So, do you forgive me?"

"You're not gonna die Alex. I'm not gonna let it happen. I promise," he assured, furiously wiping at the tears now freely trailing down his face.

"We both know you can't promise me that. I just need to know that you forgive me. I need to hear it from your lips."

"I forgive you! I forgive you! I forgive you!"

Despite the excruciating state of her body, Alex managed to crack a small smile.

"Thank you big brother."

He nodded his head and gave her a weak smile of his own before standing up and turning to the three men standing in the front of the room.

"Excuse me," he said, causing all three to look up at him.

"What do you want kid?" Carter sneered.

"Listen," he said boldly stepping towards them, "my sister is dying. She's bleeding to death and she needs help right now."

"So? Why should we care?"

"What if it were your sister?" he asked, tone turning soft. "What if your sister was lying in front of you, bleeding all over the place, and you had no way to help her?"

"Even if we did care, what in the hell could you do about it?" Carter pressed.

"There's some stuff in the nurse's office that could help bring her fever down and to slow the bleeding," Justin answered, hopeful.

He could see the thoughts run through their heads as they stood silent for several seconds.

"I'll take them," Mikey suddenly said. "Grab your sister."

Relieved, he quickly turned back to Alex. During Justin's short talk with the men, her eyes had become glassy and unfocused and her breathing was growing disturbingly quick and shallow.

"C'mon Alex," he said carefully sweeping his arms under her knees and lifting her against his chest.

Mikey led the way out the door and started down the hall with Justin close behind. His strong arms added extra pressure to Alex's wound and she groaned with every step he took.

"Almost there Alex," he said quietly, trying his hardest to reassure her.

Mikey made no attempt at communication and he lead them quickly through the halls making it difficult for Justin to keep up. When they finally reached the office, Justin was relieved – not only because of his great concern over his sister but also because his arms felt as if they were on fire. Inside, he laid Alex's tiny frail frame on the cot normally reserved during the school day for sick kids. Once she was safely out of his arms, Justin wasted no time. He rushed to the freezer in the corner of the room and pulled out every ice pack stacked inside. He then brought them back to the cot and began placing them against Alex's body. He lifted her head and placed one behind her neck, then one on her forehead.

"Justin, it's cold," she slurred, looking into his eyes.

"I know sweetheart but we have to try to break your fever," he said, returning her gaze. "I'm gonna put one on your leg too, to clot the blood."

She just nodded slightly and braced herself for the inevitable pain.

When he was finished placing the ice packs, Justin got back up and started tearing apart the cupboards. When he got to the one nearest to Mikey, he stopped and looked at the man.

"Thank you for this," he said quietly.

With no response from Mikey, Justin went back to his task at hand. His fingers fell upon a thick roll of gauze and he pulled it out eagerly. He was partially turned back to Alex when he heard Mikey's desperate voice.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," he muttered.

"What?" Justin asked turning back towards him.

"I never wanted this. My brother, he used to go here. Some guys used to terrorize him every single day at school. He would come home every day close to tears and he would lock himself alone in his room for hours. He just couldn't take it anymore. He took this gun," Mikey motioned to the pistol in his hand, "my gun, and he blew his brains out. Those guys in there, my cousins, convinced me the right thing to do was get even. I was so mad that I just agreed. But I thought we were just gonna get those guys that messed with Cal so much. Not this. This makes us even worse than those guys. I want you to know, I didn't do any shooting. I got in the school and saw all you kids and all I could think about was Cal. Before I could tell Jonathan and Carter to stop they just started shooting. They killed all those kids man," Mikey started getting choked up.

"But the important thing is that you didn't do anything. When all this is said and done, it'll be so much worse for them than you," Justin reasoned.

"Don't be nice to me! My cousins shot your sister and she might die because of it! You need to be angry at me. You need to hate me!" Mikey suddenly shouted with rage and sorrow in his voice.

"And how would that help Alex right now?" Justin asked calmly.

"I'll get you guys out of here."

"Really?! You can do that?!" Justin answered quickly.

"Yeah. I have a master key for the doors. I don't know why I didn't think about it until now," he said rummaging around in his pocket before producing a single key. "Get her and let's go!"

"Okay hang on though. I want to rewrap her leg first," Justin said moving quickly to Alex's side. "You hear that Alex? We're getting to out of here." She made no response so Justin continued. "I'm going to take this towel off your leg and rewrap it with this gauze I found. It's obviously gonna hurt but it's for the best."

As Justin began untying the blood soaked towel, Alex's hand shot out and searched frantically for something to grasp on to. Seeing her struggles, Mikey closed the space between them and allowed his hand to clasp around hers. She squeezed hard with the intense pain as Justin rolled the fresh gauze tightly around her thigh. When he finished, it took a few moments for Alex to release her death grip on Mikey's hand.

"Alright, let's get out of here," Justin said lifting Alex again fro what felt like the umpteenth time that day.

Mikey led the way out the door and back into the hall. They moved quietly and quickly towards the nearest exit. Justin felt relief wash over him when the set of double doors came into view. That relief, however, was quickly smashed by a sinister voice.

"Mikey, what are you doing?" Carter asked approaching the three, his gun trained firmly on them.

"This girl needs help," Mikey replied with strength. "She needs to get to a hospital before she dies. I'm letting them go Carter."

"The hell you are," Carter snapped back. "All three of you are gonna turn around and come back to the classroom with me right now."

"These kids didn't do anything to Cal or us. I'm letting them go." Mikey turned back to the door and a loud crack sent blood spraying onto Alex and Justin as a bullet ripped through Mikey. In the blink of an eye, his body dropped to the ground, dead.

"Now unless you want you and your sister to be lying next to him there, you'll come with me immediately."

Justin's head hung as he held Alex close and took slow steps towards where Carter stood. As he allowed himself to be manhandled and forced back in the direction of the classroom, Justin let the feeling that this was truly the end of their lives sink in for the first time that ill-fated day.


End file.
